


The flame that remains

by Koiffee



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Abused Keith (Voltron), Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Hurt Keith (Voltron), I love making my baby hurt, I'm Sorry, Keith (Voltron) Angst, Keith (Voltron)-centric, Keith gets hurt, Orphan Keith (Voltron), kinda i think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-08-19 22:49:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16543814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Koiffee/pseuds/Koiffee
Summary: A little follow-up for chapter 6:Fire of @Le_Tournesol's "I got stamina" promts for KW month! (https://archiveofourown.org/users/Le_Tournesol/pseuds/Le_Tournesol)I asked them if I could maybe write about what happens next, and they kindly said yes! <3 I hope it's up to expectations...I'm a little out of practice with english  <3Anyway, time to see our boy hurt! You can read @Le_Tournesol's chapter here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16158689/chapters/37888172The original idea belongs to them! <3





	The flame that remains

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [i got stamina](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16158689) by [Le_Tournesol](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Le_Tournesol/pseuds/Le_Tournesol). 



He can hear the other paladins as they stand back on their feet, confused and distraught by what they just witnessed, but Keith can’t bare to turn back. Not now, when the shame of  _ running every single time  _ is catching up to him at frightening speed and the memories he was just made to relieve are circling like vultures right inside his head.  _ StopstopstopstopstopStOPSTOP- _

He trips and lands heavily on one shoulder, sliding against the cold metal floor until his back is met with another cold wall.

Somewhere behind him, he can hear footsteps nearing, and that seems enough to send his brain reeling once again and he’s  _ runningrunningrunning- _

Amidst the panic and hurt, one voice rings clearly and warm inside his head, steering his flailing legs in the right direction.

_ “Cub of mine, come to me.” _

_ “Red…”  _ Keith can’t help the whine that escapes his mouth, both out loud and through the mental bond he shares with the fierce lioness. 

“Keith, wait!” - The voice belongs to Shiro, he can hear him running after him with the others in tow, but Keith won’t stop. He  _ can’t. _

After what could’ve been hours, days, or seconds...he can’t tell, Red’s hangar looms above him. Without slowing his frantic pace, the red paladin shoots through the large metal doors and slides to a halt against the mechanic lioness’ muzzle, pressing his forehead against the cold metal and trying to suck a breath amidst the agitated heaving of his chest. Vaguely, Keith is aware of the others reaching him, stopped abruptly by a dangerous growl rising from the depths of Red’s throat. A warning, but the young paladin can hear nothing no more.

He’s gone to a place he hadn’t approached since the solitude of the desert had pushed him in the direction of his past, revealing aches and old wounds that never really stopped bleeding.

_ Placement after placement, home after home, the social workers never seemed able to stop him from running. They would chase, grab, take, but nothing seemed to work. Oftentimes they would find him in the cemetery, cold and gloomy as he stared down at his father’s grave. Other times, if it had been a particularly hard day with the other foster kids who picked on him and beat him, he would be found atop the churned ashes of the calamity that had claimed his past life. His childhood. His innocence. _

_ Soon enough, the kid was burning. By the time Keith was ten and placed with his third foster family, the adults around him seemed to get tired of playing chase. He remembered the way his “new father” had grabbed him by the scalp, thrown him against the kitchen wall, and beat the hell out of him for his uncessant sobbing after a particularly terrible nightmare. Half-emptied vodka bottles littered the floor around his tiny feet. _

_ And so, he stopped running. _

_ He started fighting back. _

_   
_ _ “That kid? A discipline case. He’ll never account for much.” _

 

_ “Surely you understand? We aren’t really prepared for so much...he needs a more experienced family to take care of his attitude.” _

 

_ “Damnit stop running you cunt! Get back here right THIS INSTANT!” _

 

Vaguely, Keith sensed the red lion push against him in strained reassurance, but the vultures had already dug in for a meal, and he grasped at his chest and begged for it to _ stop hurting so much. _

“I...I couldn’t control it! It just happened, I’m-I’m sorry! I...I didn’t, want you to see me like this, I swear!” He choked out the words, sweat dripping down his face as he curled in on himself.

 

Behind the aching paladin, the others were at a loss. Three of them, plus the Alteans, had never expected to witness such...an outburst of emotions from the red warrior. Shiro, however, knew better. He supposed now they understood too, though.

They’d all watched him burn and perish and burn and perish yet again merely moments ago.

Taking a bold step forward, the black paladin advanced toward his brother, wishing there was a way in which he could take all of his wounds and stitch them away.

“Keith...we don’t…” A sharp intake of breath, a pause in the footsteps barely a couple away from their destination

Shiro crouched beside the young paladin.

“We...we didn’t know. We wouldn’t have forced you to mind-meld if that’d been the case. I...I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you, that you were all alone, even after we met...but... _ god Keith. _ ” 

Shiro’s throat chokes on words, but still he manages to pull Keith against his chest. The former has gone silent, tense as if waiting for the older pilot to raise his voice or strike.

“We...we are here, now, and you can lean on us. Don’t...don’t believe for a moment that you’re alone.” Finally, he managed to catch the other’s shining violet gaze, and his voice was steady when he spoke on, the others surrounding the red paladin like children on a chilly bonfire night, trying to keep the flame alive.

“You are burning Keith, but not with destruction. Your affinity to the element lives on the flame you have inside, the very fire that has enabled you to survive thus far.”

He focused on the other’s eyes, gone wide and still as Shiro took another breath.

 

“You are our fire Keith, and we won’t let you go out.”

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it guys! Please do let me know what you think, and feel free to let me know of any errors! I would love to keep expanding my knowledge of English as a second Language <3


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